“It’s me, hi,” Taylor Swift sings on her hit Anti-Hero. And that’s what she must have said to herself on Tuesday evening, when she went on stage for the umpteenth time to collect the prize for best music video of the year. Yes, good evening, me again! It must be said that the singer-songwriter started at the head of the race with eight selections in her pocket, including the coveted song of the year, which she won thanks to Anti-Hero. In total, Taylor Swift walked away with seven honors, making her the queen of the VMA ceremony, filmed live from New Jersey. During the day, rumors circulated that the singer would deliver a performance during the ceremony. It didn’t turn out. She would have been too busy collecting all her prizes anyway.
This is often the fault of this type of ceremony. By trying to do too much, we end up getting lost. In our case, the line was crossed shortly after the third hour, when barely half of the prizes had been awarded. The evening, which dragged on until midnight, would have deserved to be tightened up and the number of numbers reduced by a third, especially since the majority of them had nothing particularly memorable. Nicki Minaj was entrusted with the ambitious mandate of hosting the ceremony. And by lively, we mean that she made more or less three confusing interventions during the evening. “MTV is petrified because they got a few calls yesterday…I told them, ‘Everything is great. I can control myself,” she said at the start of the evening.
All the same: the evening offered some electrifying numbers worth mentioning. In our opinion, however, the best performance belongs to Doja Cat, who scored flawlessly. Surrounded by around twenty dancers covered in red paint imitating blood, the artist performed Attention, Paint the Town Red and Demons with unerring precision and admirable ease on stage. You have to admit: in addition to sounding exactly like she does on her recordings, Doja Cat knows how to liven up a crowd. Special mention also to Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion, who brought their new song, Bongos, to life in a rainforest setting. If the song alone has few attributes, both artists were convincing, and the number was entertaining, which is all you can hope for from a performance at the VMAs.
After an absence of more than 15 years, it was Shakira’s big return to the VMA stage. The Colombian singer received the prestigious Video Vanguard Award on Tuesday, which rewards an artist who has left his mark on the world of music videos. To mark the occasion, the artist delivered an all-pool performance in front of a delirious crowd. Dressed in a shimmering dress, she began her number with the essential She Wolf, before performing classics from her repertoire, from Whenever, Wherever to Hips Don’t Lie. If the singer has proven that she has lost none of her showmanship – and rhythm! –, the apparent lipsync was a little too distracting for us to fully appreciate the number.
Obviously, the VMAs couldn’t miss the 50th anniversary of the birth of hip-hop. It was Lil Wayne who opened the ceremony, an overall colorless number made up for by Diddy’s performance a little later in the evening. After Foo Fighters and Red Hot Chili Pepper, the rap icon in turn won the Global Icon prize, which rewards an artist with a memorable career. The award for best hip-hop song went to Nicki Minaj’s Super Freaky Girl, who appeared on stage during a tribute act alongside legends DMC, LL Cool J and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Ultimately, young rapper Ice Spice won the title of new artist of the year.
